OROVILLE — Avid bird watchers looked through their binoculars, hoping to catch a glimpse of a wing or beak in the foggy Sunday morning sky.
“How about this weather, perfect for bird watching,” 35-year birder Trish Reilly said.
Reilly was one of roughly 20 people who joined a convoy of cars traveling along Cottonwood Road in Oroville for a “Raptor Run.”
Raptors, or birds of prey, are bird species that primarily hunt and feed on vertebrates relatively large compared to them. The species include hawks, eagles, falcons and owls.
The convoy, all members of the Altacal Audubon Society, periodically stopped whenever Field Trip Coordinator Matt Forester spotted a bird perched on a power line or resting on the ground.
Forester said he believes Cottonwood Road boasts one of the best landscapes in Northern California for raptors.
“It’s a vast landscape with lots of grasslands and in the grasslands, there’s holes, mice and rats,” Forester said. “A good feed and habitat for them.”
During the wintertime, raptors migrate to this area from northern U.S. states, such as Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and South Dakota.
After finishing up at Cottonwood Road, the birding group gathered at the Thermalito Forebay in Oroville before heading back to Chico.
On their way back, Forester said they saw the rare Northern Shrike, a large predatory songbird species.
“It’s only been seen three times in Butte County,” Forester said.
In total, the group saw between 70 to 80 different bird species Sunday.
Reilly, an Altacal Audubon Society member of five years, explained her passion for birding.
“I just love birds,” Reilly said. “I love being outside and being very attentive to the environment because when you go birding you see everything, birds, plants and animals.”
The nonprofit group, dedicated to preserving and protecting birds and their habitats, routinely goes on field trips in search of different bird species.
“It’s like a scavenger hunt, you’re trying to find different species that you haven’t seen before,” Forester said.
For more information on the birding group, visit altacal.org.
Snow Goose festival
Altacal Audubon Society will be hosting its biggest program of the year Jan. 22 to 27 during the 21st annual Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway.
The five-day event welcomes more than 1,000 people to the Chico Masonic Family Center for a collection of field trips, workshops, nature films, presentations, art exhibits and free family activities.
The festival celebrates the millions of birds traveling to the Northern Sacramento Valley from the Arctic during the winter months.
Registration information can be found at snowgoosefestival.org.
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Bird watchers endure foggy morning to see returning raptors - Chico Enterprise-Record
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